


The Eyes Reappear

by EudociaCovert



Series: Death's Other Kingdom [5]
Category: The Hollow (Cartoon)
Genre: A Tiny Bit Meta, Creepy, Gen, Her Name is Mira and She's Good at Puzzles, Worldbuilding, internet shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-27 12:36:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15024746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EudociaCovert/pseuds/EudociaCovert
Summary: Mira has a bad night. Her morning isn't much better.





	The Eyes Reappear

Of the three of them, Mira’s the one who keeps track of public reception.

When the doors lock at night she fishes out the tablet tucked under the hidden bottom of her desk drawer and gets down to business. Internet access isn’t prohibited, but everything she does on her school issued PC is recorded. This tablet, bought with the prize money for their seventh win, connects to a private hidden network and gives them a much-needed glimpse of Hollow fans.

Reception for their last game is a mixed bag, but mostly positive. A lot of general fans took notice, interested in the game but not overly invested in any one team. They can be good for more objective glimpses at game set up and play. It looks like they’re more critical of the last gamemaster than the teams.

Given the nature of The Hollow players can’t control how watchable the finished product is, it’s inevitable that they’ll repeat solutions and conversations and outcomes when presented with the same sequence of events. This means the quality of the game is largely dependent on the quality of the gamemaster, who controls the game map, the computer generated characters, and the difficulty.

_CC: no cohesive story line. it looks like he just keysmashed elements from all three genre categories, of course they figured out it was a game_

_AM: Personally I liked the wackiness! More immersive play throughs are great, but wtf quests have charm, and the progression of difficulty levels in enemies was pretty consistent._

_WT: i agree with AM he was annoying as hell though_

Fans of the teams involved are another vocal group, usually active on fan sites and chat rooms. The people who follow her team specifically are a much harder to understand subset in Mira’s opinion, but one heavily responsible for their success. The more people watching posted games online or risking legal trouble to watch them live the more opportunities the team has to play bigger matches, with better stories, and larger viewership and prizes.

_KaisLeftElbow: They did so well my babiiiies_

_DiMaster: It was rigged obviously K.A.M. didn’t deserve to win_

_KaisLeftElbow: Lol, step off hater_

_TastyWinnie: They just joined today, obv a fan of this weeks LOSERS. just ignore them_

_Duckery1346: Adam’s hair though, someone introduce that boy to a barber_

_TastyWinnie: LOL_

_Abbaticus: Kai’s so annoying why is he even part of this team_

_KaisLeftElbow: Shut up, K.A.M. wouldn’t be K.A.M. without him, he’s so skilled and such a cinnamon roll I will fight you._

_Jeenielove: Keep racking up views guys, and sending requests to bigger tournaments!! K.A.M. is counting on us!_

_K.A.M.4life: Why is no one talking about the corrupted code!??? I thought they were really going to be hurt, I cried so hard…_ _☹_

_Xxxxxxx: Get lost in the coming hell_

_K.A.M.4life: WTF_

_Duckery1346: Obvious troll is obvious_

_Xxxxxxx:  Get lost in the coming hell_

_Xxxxxxx: Get_

_KaisLeftElbow: Creepy_

_Xxxxxxx: Lost_

_Xxxxxxx:_ _In_

_Xxxxxxx: The_

_Xxxxxxx: Coming_

_Xxxxxxx: Hell_

_Xxxxxxx:_ _Get_

_Xxxxxxx: Lost_

_Xxxxxxx: In_

_Xxxxxxx: The_

_TastyWinnie: Someone block them, who’s the moderator_

_Xxxxxxx: Coming_

_Xxxxxxx: Hell_

A chill starts at the base of Mira’s neck and rushes down her back, over her arms. She closes out the chat room, enters another site.

It happens again.

_Get lost in the coming hell_

Chat rooms, fan sites, message boards, social media tags. It’s happening everywhere, and all at once. Whatever this is, it’s something bigger than one person trolling for kicks. And it’s only happening in relation to the last game and the players involved.

Mira paces the floor in the dark, chewing on her thumb nervously. It could be nothing, but it sets her teeth on edge and scrunches her shoulders up. It’s a feeling she’s had before. It’s why they backed out of a tournament when someone started making noise about the gamemaster having a history of doxing, why they nix anything if there’s been any hint of a violent threat made against any of them, why Mira keeps such close tabs on the internet pulse in the first place.

Something about the phrase… especially given how many questions they still have about the last game and the glitching.

Wait.

Get lost in the coming hell.

It’s not just a creepy phrase. It’s a warning.

 **G** et

 **L** ost

 **I** n

 **T** he

 **C** oming

 **H** ell.

Mira shuts the tablet down, takes the blanket off her bed and curls up in the corner, beside the locked door. Four hours to wait before she can talk to Adam and Kai.

The glitch might not have been an accident. Somehow, she’s sure something big is happening and for some reason she and the boys are right in the middle of it.

She has a sneaking suspicion this is going to be one of the longest nights of her life.

\--

She’s out the door and down the hall the moment the Disengage happens, blinking at the sudden light while she runs. Kai sees her, she hears him call out, but she doesn’t stop, heading straight for Adam. Kai will follow.

Adam’s door’s still closed.

That’s strange.

She knocks on it, sharp and hurried. “Adam! It’s Mira, let me in. Adam? Adam.”

No answer.

She taps in the code for a manual entrance. She’s only had to use it once before, Adam’s always with them, always awake, always-

The door opens.

The room is empty, the bed still made.

There's a note on the desk.

_Kai and Mira: In case I’m not back yet in the morning… I got a lead about the problem we encountered. I’m taking a bit of tutoring on the subject, I’ll tell you guys what I’ve found later. See you soon. Adam._

“Mira?” Kai asks, hand light on her shoulder and voice small.

There's a threat to her team out there.

Adam isn’t in the Academy.

Adam isn’t safe.

“Go get ready,” Mira says. “We’re skipping class.”


End file.
